Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports that Jenkins showed up out of shape to the first day of the 49ers’ minicamp today. Maiocco calls it “easy to see” and says that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh noticed.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury Newsreports that when he was asked about Jenkins, Harbaugh immediately pointed out that many of the receivers were out of shape. Jenkins, who got winded as practice went on and had two bad drops, said he agrees that he needs to get into better shape and found that the pace of the 49ers’ work is faster than the pace of the workouts he’s been doing on his own.

Maiocco also posted a video of Jenkins running a figure-8 race with fellow rookie receiver Chris Owusu. Owusu won the race, and it sounded like Jenkins was getting yelled at by the coach running the drill for not hustling all the way through the end.

None of this will be an issue at all if Jenkins proves himself a hard worker over the summer and is ready to go when the preseason starts in three months. But it appears that Jenkins is not off to a great start in San Francisco.

39 responses to “A.J. Jenkins out of shape at 49ers’ minicamp”

A saving grace is that he is just a pup. But I still found myself wondering why he was not present to work out the day after he was drafted. I don’t know his circumstance or situation at the time – it just struck me as odd. But right about now, I’m betting he wishes he HAD showed the next day for workouts. Not to worry, he’ll be fine (especially now that after all the “first-round” hoopla, he seems to have stepped in it.)

“Jenkins, who got winded as practice went on and had two bad drops, said he agrees that he needs to get into better shape and found that the pace of the 49ers’ work is faster than the pace of the workouts he’s been doing on his own.”

What workouts? This guy has been doing absolutely nothing to prepare himself to be a professional football player. There were serious questions about his maturiy going into the draft, and the 49ers reached for this guy in the first round! LOL

FYI for those outside this area: Harbaugh runs everything, repeat everything up tempo. And when the team is practicing in gear, they go for 3 hour stretches just to mimic game length. Randy Moss was blown away his first day of the field with the pace and tempo Harbaugh uses. Hey, that “break-neck”pace worked for a 13-3 record.

I don’t think anyone on the offensive side of the ball has his spot reserved except Frank Gore. And even he has way more competition than in years passed. Owusu already has a leg up on the rest of the WRs because he is from Stanford. These other guys, including Randy #84 and AJ Jenkins had better figure it out soon. Jim Harbaugh will only be patient for so long…

Some guys are just ignorant of the effort and what they need to do work out wise to be physically prepared for the NFL.

So at the moment I would consider this a non issue and just a wake up call for him. He just needs to get with the strength and conditioning coaches, other teammates, and especially Jerry Rice to learn what it takes to be physically ready and what to actually do as well.

If he’s genuinely lazy than it’s going to be a major issue going forward.

Around the league, every year, rookies come into their first minicamp and learn what real conditioning is. If he’s still struggling when training camp begins, fire away. Until then, he’s a rookie, and this is a common occurrence…for every team.

Also, this comment from the earlier Hill thread now belongs to the ages:

“thesportgenius says:
May 8, 2012 1:36 PM
This kid will prove to be a great pick @30. He also decided to blow off walking in a cap & gown at graduation to move permanently to the Bay Area immediately and start working out with the team & JR. He’s got the right attitude already. Athletically gifted + HOF mentor + work ethic = star in the making.

Settle down people. For you that don’t know, Jerry Rice showed up out of shape and with a little bit of an attitude. He was then straightened out by good coaches (like we have now) and had a career every player aspires to match. AJ has the right attitude, Illinois probably didn’t teach him the best workout programs … he will get that in San Fran. This year he will grow and next year he will be a beast!!!

Oh oh. Looks like you are really immature. 9er fans just know that this story last year wouldn’t have even been a story because nobody cared about the 9ers. On a lesser team like the Saints or Lions he prolly wouldn’t have been winded. Jenkins is discovering the hardcore Harbaugh reality. He’ll buy in soon enough if he hasn’t already.

I love these 9er fans, one good season and you’d think they were the 9ers of old. Even Cleveland had a good season back in 06 or 07. Play this year like last season and you’ll earn other fan’s respect, until then you are just another team in our books.

time2speakup says:
May 11, 2012 4:01 PM
Hey, that “break-neck”pace worked for a 13-3 record.
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And one fumble on a punt return, blew it in the NFC title game….not to mention 1 reception by Crabs in the 3rd quarter…

lol. Every year hundreds of rookies show up to their first NFL mini-camp. They’re in great shape… For college athletes.

There these young, in good shape, athletes find out that ‘Professional Athlete’ in shape is not the same as ‘College Athlete’ in shape. And that they’re going to have to take the ‘in shape’ thing to a whole new level when it comes to strength and conditioning.

And yet, despite this happening every year. There’s always some idiot sportswriter who wants to make it into a big deal.

Coming in as a lump of dough is a big deal. Coming in like AJ Jenkins, this month’s victim, is not.